Improvement in current water-wheels



W. W; GLBAVELAND. Curr-ent Water-Wheel.

No. 210,184. Patented Nov, 26, 187s.

but' l UNITED STATEs PATENT OEEIGE.

wALLAoE w. oLEAvELAND,

CF MARSHALL, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT IN CURRENT WATER-WHEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 210,184-s datedNovember 26, 1878 application iled May 2, 187e.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALLACE W. CLEAVE- LAND, of Marshall, in Calhouncounty, in the State of Michigan, have invented new and useful-Improvements ou Current Water-Wheels, of which the following is a fulland complete description, having reference to the accompanying drawings,wherein- Figure l is a perspective view of my wheel. Fig. 2 isa plan ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section. Fig. 4 is an end elevation,showing the action of the latches.

This invention relates to improvements o the wheel for which LettersPatent were issued to me August 3, 1875 5 and consists, first, indevices for automatically catching up and holding the buckets or oat-sout of the water when it is desired to stop the wheel; second, in thedevices for operating said catches through the Wheel-shaft; third, intheextended bulk-head, whereby water is confined and directed upon theskirt of the wheel.

That others may fully understand the invention, I will particularlydescribe it.

The wheel is constructed with radial arms A A and a hollow centralshaft, B, which stands vertically, and is provided with a suitable stepat the bottom anda bearing, a, in a supporting-frame, C, which spans theframe D, through which the water is directed.

The iioats or buckets E are flat plates, of oblong form and parallelsides, and suitably hinged at one edge to the arms A. Their free edgesare attached to said arms, other than those bearing the hinges, so thatsaid iioats drop down and hang from the hinged edge in a position nearlyvertical, or are raised up to a position substantially horizontal.

The chains F are not employed for the purpose of so raising the iioatsin the structure of the wheel shown, though. they may easily be arrangedto do so.

The water is directed upon one side ofthe wheel by the bulk-head H onone side and a similar bulk-head, I, on the other side, constitutin gthe iiume I), and may be cut off entirely by swinging gates J.

The shaft B stands close to the bulk-head I,

so that at any one moment only one-half the whole number of floats E arewithin the fiume and being acted upon bythe current. As the wheelrevolves, the buckets E which are outside the flume are raised upto passover the bulk-head I by the track-rod IC, and to relieve friction uponsaid track a friction-roller, c, is placed under the free edge of eachof said iioats.

The radial arms A are supported by trussrods d, and their ends are tiedtogether by the tie-rod g.

,v When it is desired to stop the wheel the buckets or floats may beraised up to a hori- This is the onlylmethod zontal position. when,duringfreshets, the wheel may be wholly submerged and the gates J unableto shut out the water. At such times the wheel will operate as well asat other times, but cannot be controlled by the gates as at ordinarystage of water. To put the wheel under control by raising the lioats andholding them in a horizontal position, I put upon each float one or morestraps, L, which are rigidly secured at one end and are free at theother, and curved, as shown, so as to be permanently raised up from thesurface of the float at the free-end. Upon the arms A', which areintermediate between the arms to which the lloats are hinged, I place anumber of hooked latchnbolts, M, corresponding to the number of strapsL. These hooked bolts are capable of being moved laterally so as tobring their hooked end under and in engagement with the straps L, sothat the oats will be thereby supported. The hook-bolts M are alsocapable of swinging sidewise, so that, having been moved into engagingposition over the said straps L, they will be pushed and caused to swingsidewise as the float rises in passing over the bulk-head I, and willdrop over the ends of and fall beneath said straps, so as to hold theiloat up as it moves over the ume.

To effect this movement of the hooked latchi I vbolts M, I connect eachwith a vsliding collar,

N, upon the shaft B by means of rods m. The collar N has a cross-bolt,whichpasses through slots p in opposite sides of the shaft B, and isconnected at the center with a rod, Q, which passes upward through theupper end of said shaft, and is connected with a lever, B, or otherefficient means of controlling it. By raising or lowering the collar Nthe several latches M are moved in one direction or the other, asdesired, to engage or liberate the oats.

The bulk-head I extends past the shaft B, and then curves around, so asto partly inelose the same and closely approach the inner ends of theoats as'they move. The outer end of the bulk-headl thus forms apassage-way bctween itselfand the corresponding end of the bulk-head H,to divert all the water passing upon the floats, and, at low stages, tocorrespondingly reduce waste of water.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. The slidingcatch-bolts M, operated by a sliding collar, N, on the wheel-shaft B,and suitable connecting rods m, whereby each bucket may be caught bycatch or loop on the front of bucket E, and held up automatically, andthe wheel caused to stop without shutting ofi' the water.

2. A hollow wheel-shaft, B, combined with a sliding collar, N,connecting with each catchbolt M, and operated by rod Q, connected withsaid collar N at lower end, and extending thence upward through theinterior of said shaft to a suitable lever, whereby said collar and thecatch-bolts M, to which it is connected, may be operated through thecenter of the wheel-shaft B.

3. Combined with the bulk-head H and a current water wheel,substantially as described, a bulk-head, I, extended past the main shaftB, substantially as set forth, to conine and direct the water upon theskirt of thc wheel and prevent waste of water.

WALLACE W. CLEAVE LAND.

Witnesses:

DAVID N. GREEN, JAMES R. DIGKEY.

